This year’s very severe drought that occurred from the end of June until the first 15th of July, perhaps the longest since 2005, may have “threatened” the production of fir trees in Taxiarchis of Halkidiki, however, no house will be left without the No. 1 symbol of Christmas and New Year, the fir tree, after the producers hastened in time with waterings, thus mitigating significantly the damage that could have been caused.

The aforementioned results from the statements made to the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency (APE-MPE) by the professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (APTH), Dr. Philip A. Aravanopoulos and the president of the Taxiarchi community, Halkidiki, Yiannis Xakis, fir producer.

With irrigation this year, the producers mitigated the damage

“This year we really had too much very long drought throughout Greece and in the region of Taxiarchis of Halkidiki, perhaps the largest of the last 20 years, especially in the period from the end of June to the middle of July“, points out the professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Environment of the AUTH, Dr. Philippos A., speaking to APE-MPE. Aravanopoulos and adds that in the above-mentioned period very high temperatures of heatwave level were recorded, while in the immediately preceding period there was extensive rainlessness.

As a result, “all over the country the trees received very severe stress and found themselves in an extremely difficult situation”, he underlines, and explains that especially plants that do not have a deep root system and cannot more easily draw water from the ground, such as young firs, these “They faced a more severe problem». The Taxiarchi fir growers, seeing that this year’s situation was not progressing smoothly, rushed in time and started watering, which is not frequent, especially in older plantations, and with this care “they mitigated the disasters that could have been this year“, he emphasizes.

“Without the irrigation from the fir growers, we would probably have had very widespread devastation,” he points out, expressing his view that it is the growers’ action that ultimately saved the day this year. “They may not have succeeded in undoing the disasters and they are recorded this year higher than in previous years, but they would be greater if they did nothing at all“, he characteristically points out.

The climate crisis also “threatens” the fir trees

“Climate change/crisis is ‘here, here to stay and that is now a given“, emphasizes Mr. Aravanopoulos emphatically explains that although drought phenomena have been recorded since the 1980s, but then they happened approximately once every 15 years. Today, as he explains, they appear almost year after year, that is, the frequency of their occurrence has increased and their effect has intensified, with the result that both the ecosystem and the producers do not have time to recover to the extent they would like and should. In this context, underlining that water is not infinite and expensive, the AUTH professor points out that in 10 years’ time, man will not be able to water more and more on an annual basis in order for the trees to withstand and thus “the long-term solution that must since yesterday to “work on it” is one and it concerns the creation of tree varieties more resistant to drought through genetic improvement. “We can’t water endlessly all summer, that’s impossible, and that’s why it’s imperative to start a process to make more drought-resistant trees“”, he clarifies and explains, that it is not only the fir trees that are “threatened” by the effects of climate change/crisis, but also all the cultivated ones, such as, among others, the fruit and fruit-bearing trees, e.g. chestnuts, cherries and walnuts.

Arguing his position on the need to immediately take more drastic measures to deal with climate change/crisis, Mr. Aravanopoulos points out that “if we let the situation develop as it is without acting, we will probably have shortages in the depth of 10 and 20 years, sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, depending on the degree of manifestation of the phenomena”. Thus, as he says, if next year the situation in the Halkidiki Brigade develops more smoothly “there should be no complacency, because even more extreme conditions may occur the year after and a very large part of the production may be destroyed”. Among other things, in his deposition, Mr. Aravanopoulos raised another dimension, this attack of trees by fungi and insects when the trees “weaken” too much, which happens due to drought, lack of rain and high temperatures. This is something that we see in all organizations, he notes and says that this year there have probably also been cases of attacks by abiotic factors, which, however, as he explains “in this case they are of secondary origin, meaning that perhaps they would not have occurred on a large scale if the trees had not been “thinned” so much”.

Abundance of firs – 7/11 the start of the festive season is given by the Master Chief

Ready to cope with their festive work again this year, say the fir producers of the mountainous traditional village of Taxiarchis of Chalkidiki, which is built in the “heart” of Holomont, with the president of the local community, Yannis Xakis, a producer, categorically declaring to APE -MPE that “not only are we able to meet last year’s demand, i.e. 32,000 firs, but we can even overcome it if necessary”, he emphasizes.

This year’s drought and the high temperatures that prevailed in the region this summer certainly troubled and worried the fir producers of Taxiarchis of Chalkidiki, who, however, followed the developments and acted immediately, so that there would be no problems during the festive season, says Mr. Xakis, pointing out however that “for the first time in the years I have lived in my country I have seen such weather conditions”.

But, as he hastens to underline, the fir producers acted directly with irrigation and other agricultural practices and thus “in our plantations we have absolutely no problem”, he clarifies. Thus, having avoided the worst, the fir-tree growers of Taxiarchis of Halkidiki have been feverishly preparing for the last few days, so that on 7/11 at eight o’clock in the evening, they will illuminate the 13-meter fir tree they have placed in the central square, thus giving the signal, for the sixth year this year , the start of the festive season in our country. More than 95,000 lights, thousands of colorful ornaments and a large gold star on top, is the Christmas tree costume that will be unveiled at the big community celebration.

As soon as the relevant permits are given by the Ministry of Environment and Energy for the start of the season for the sale of trees at the points of sale throughout Greece, the Taxiarchi fir producers will go to their “posts” in – among others – Thessaloniki, Athens, Volos, Patras and Alexandroupoli and it is not excluded that some missions will also be made to islands, as “it has been done in recent years”, emphasizes Mr. Xakis. He adds that this year there will be exports to Cyprus and Tirana, Albania, while it is not excluded that there will be demand from other foreign markets as well, as he said.

Regarding the prices of Taxiarchis firs for this year, Mr. Xakis notes that they will fluctuate at last year’s levels, ie close to 50 euros for firs up to two and a half meters high, 70-80 euros up to three meters and from 25 euros for firs that do not exceed one and a half meters.